Thursday, May 16, 2013

AMERICAN GYPSY, A STRANGER IN EVERYBODY'S LAND

Gypsies reside all over the world. It said to be more than one million in America alone. I watched the award winning documentary "American Gypsy" by filmmaker Jasmine Dellal and for me, I thought it provided great insight. Curious about what other people thought, I read through the comments on the PBS site where it once aired and was taken aback a bit by the length of ignorance and negativity, though I can't say I was surprised.

Gypsies have always seemingly had a bad rep. Stealing, panhandling, exploiting...but doesn't every culture have all that somewhere? It must not be forgotten that Gypsies have been ostracized and prosecuted, and have never really had a home. Some have stayed as close to the culture as possible, some have assimilated into others. The documentary explains assimilation in America specifically.

Here's where Our Gypsy Souls rest. Gypsy is a race. Gypsy is a lifestyle. Gypsy is a style. It is all of the above and Gypsy has influenced music such as Johannes Brahm (yes, classical!), Gogol Bodello, and our own Angelina 'Jipse' Roz. We embrace the positives in this blog. We love to travel and live bohemian. We call ourselves Gypsyters. The modern day hipster gypsies. Get in on it :-)

Traveling back in the day

Jimi Hendrix influenced by dem gypsy eyes

Gypsters, Jipse and Kim Tank on the road, again

Cause we can't wait to get on the road again, with gypsy dog, Mr. Fox!

8 comments:

Sorry but this is to person above: how does your comment relate to the post? lmaoAnyway I enjoyed this post. I love how this blog concentrates on the positive and not the negative stereotype that we see in the media about gypsies. I personally have such admiration for gypsy culture and traditions. It is still a mystery to me why people would rather just concentrate on the thieving, non tax paying scoundrel side of it. It's like if I am going to talk about Chinese I will talk about how great their country is and how hard working they are rather than talk about the odd eating habits and the poor hygiene of restaurant in China Town, am I?My point is ladies, thanks again for this blog. Great insight and an enjoyable read.

I agree with you 100%, Ivan. Some people, including the media, do focus on the negative stereotypes. We welcome people who appreciate the Gypsy/gypsy culture and what it has to bring. Thank you for your comment!